REST API, date/time fields, and time zones

[vaylortrucks]

We are using the table REST API to add records to a table. These records include a "Due Date" field. For each entry, the data entered into the "Due Date" field is a date with no time, for example "2017-5-5" as a string, or 2017-05-05T04:00:00Z as a date/time. However, when you browse the newly created record in ServiceNow, the date and time given are 4 hours behind, (2017-05-04 20:00:00 in this example).

Because the difference in time (4 hours) coincides with our current time zone, it seems likely that a time zone setting is the problem. I have tried changing the settings for the ServiceNow account being used to make the connection; setting the time zone to GMT, and also to the local time zone (US / Eastern), but neither had an effect on the outcome. We have also set the default date format for that account to yyyy-MM-dd with no change in the outcome.

[ashwinkumar_pat · Accepted solution]

He Vaylor,

if the the user's timezone is not set, then the system time zone is used as per the time zone documentation (servicenow docs)

I tested this use case and here is what happened with me.

I created a record in my test table which stores the birth date and time. I passed birth date and time as 1978-10-22 09:15:00. The user which executed this REST API call is in Central time zone. The system stored the birth date as 1978-10-22 04:15:00 i.e. exactly 5 hours behind. That is in UTC time zone.

I changed the user's time zone to Eastern time zone and the system now stored the date 4 hours behind.

However, my system time zone is set to IST.

So to conclude, the REST API stores the date/time in UTC time zone.

~@$#

[ashwinkumar_pat]

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[yogesh15dd]

Hi Ashwin,

We are trying to set the 'due_date' field for the request (sc_request) using a the rest api, it will not set it some how, i have set up the time zone for the user record (we used to submit the api request), even then..

What do you think the issues is?

Thanks

Yogish Dafedar